In This World
by whatanauthorsgottado
Summary: In this world... it's kill or be killed. Do you think you can survive? / Omega Ruby nuzlocke. BlueOrbshipping in later chapters.
1. Prologue

Two hundred kilometres of traveling, and I was stuck in the back of the moving van.

Not for the first time this trip – never mind ever – I cursed my mother. The van went over a bump, and I swore out loud.

"This is the worst! Why did we have to move to Hoenn anyway?"

I stared at my PokeNav Plus, which had been playing some irritating introductory app for newbie Trainers that my mom had loaded onto it. It was stuck on a screen, and I realized it was expecting me to input my gender.

"Fuck you. As if I'm going to become a Trainer just because we're moving out of Johto." I switched off the PokeNav and stared at the slight crack of light that was entering the doors.

My thoughts wandered to Hoenn at large. I'd done my research before we left – it was a tiny region, population of about 250 or so, peaceful and beautiful. Nice people, apparently, though they had a bit of a big fondness for trumpets. Apparently.

What would they really be like? Nothing in real life was actually that nice.

I was snapped put of my reverie by the sound of the moving van doors opening. I rushed out – and fell flat on my face right beside a mud puddle. Apparently, it had rained earlier.

"Sorry about making you ride in the moving van, honey!" came my mom's airy voice. She didn't even look at me as I stood and wiped the mud off my face.

"Sure you are," I mumbled. Unfortunately, she heard me.

"What was that?" Her tone was sharp, and I internally flinched.

"Nothing."

"It certainly didn't sound like nothing."

"Ma'am," one of the movers interrupted, offering her a clipboard. I slipped into the house right in front of a Machoke carrying a box from the van, and headed upstairs to claim a room.

Half an hour later, after a short shower, I came downstairs to see Mom watching TV.

"Look, Zanna! Dad's on TV!"

I came around to glance at the screen, but Norman wasn't there. Instead, a short, bald newscaster was talking to the camera.

"Oh, you must have missed him. Oh well."

"Yeah, too bad."

"Now. We have to talk."

She sat down at the table, turning the chair to face me. "I wasn't very impressed with the way you spoke to me in front of the movers. You really embarrassed me out there, Zanna."

Some part of me wilted, but I'd learned to ignore it. "Do I look like I care?"

"Zanna!"

I rounded on her, taking out my pent-up frustrations from the move. "You know what? You don't get to say anything. The only reason there were movers to "embarrass" you in front of is because of you. You dragged me away from the life I knew – from my school and my friends – to move to this Arceus-forsaken region, just because one of the neighbours was going to tell Norman you're cheating on him again!"

She gave me a surprised look, but I snorted. "Don't look so shocked. Anyone who's not an idiot – meaning anyone but Norman, apparently – could have figured out you're an unfaithful bitch. Your only child isn't even his."

Suddenly, Cheryl stood and advanced on me, swinging her hand and delivering a stinging slap to my face. I recoiled, holding my face.

"You," she began. "You, are an ungrateful, selfish, lazy tramp who doesn't deserve my love. How dare you say such awful things about your mother?"

I spat in her face. "You're not my mother."

Calmly, she wiped the spit from her face. "You know what? I've had more than enough of your awful behaviour. You have half an hour to pack up your _shit_ and get out of my house."

I opened my mouth to retort, but nothing came out, so I shut it and turned on my heel to storm upstairs.

Once I was in my room, I slammed the door and started throwing everything of any value that would fit into my bag. The Wii U was first – I could pawn that at a Poke Mart for some cash, I was sure. My Potion, a few sets of extra clothes, my wallet and PokeNav Plus, and a sleeping bag and pillow. I tied my bandana around my head, pushing my hair back.

I stomped my way down the stairs, ignoring years of conditioning to be as quiet as possible, and headed right for the door. Before I left forever, I turned back and glared at Cheryl.

"You know what? My first move is to head to Petalburg City and tell Norman that you kicked your daughter out of the house. Maybe then I can tell him that you've had a string of boyfriends, and maybe he'll even believe me."

She replied something, but I didn't hear her over the sound of the door slamming.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and squared my shoulders. The world was there. Time to face it.


	2. Chapter 1

I wasn't sure how exactly I was supposed to get to Petalburg, but maybe the neighbours would be able to help me out. They could probably help me get to the city, and they might even know who to ask about finding a house.  
With this in mind, I headed over to the house opposite the one my mo- _Cheryl_ –now called home, and knocked on the door. A kindly-looking lady answered the door.  
"Oh! You must be our new neighbour!"  
"Not exa-"  
Before I could finish my sentence, she dragged me into the house. "It's so nice to meet you... Damien told me that we'd have new neighbours soon, but I didn't know you were arriving today! You're here to meet Brendan, aren't you? Well, he's not here right now – he's out helping his father with field work – but you can go upstairs and wait for him if you want!"  
With that, she shoved me up the stairs.  
I sighed and headed up the stairs. I opened the first door to reveal a stereotypical boy's room, with a blue rug and white walls. The desk was neat - mainly because it was empty save for an opened book that looked like a journal. I peeked at it, but it was all notes on Pokemon habitats in the area, which I didn't really care about.  
I looked around the room again. On the mat was a Poke ball, which I was vaguely curious about, but I'd learned the hard way not to touch Poke balls that weren't mine, so I left it alone. Instead, I sat on the stool in front of the desk to wait.  
A few minutes later, a boy in a white hat rushed up the stairs into the room.  
"Gotta grab my Poke ball," he muttered, then did a double take. "Who are you?!"  
"Zanna," I said shortly.  
"Right. Well, I'm busy right now. I'm in the middle of helping my dad with field work."  
With that, he grabbed the Poke ball from his floor and disappeared back down the stairs. I scowled after him and left the room.  
Clearly, the neighbours weren't going to be any help. I headed back outside, and heard someone yelling from the direction of the path out of town.  
Some kid was standing in front of the path. "Do you hear that? It sounds like someone's in trouble!"  
"Yeah, I hear it." I gave the kid a sideways look. "Are you going to go help?"  
"Well... My mom told me not to leave town."  
I rolled my eyes. "Is everyone in this town useless?"  
I turned to go grab the neighbour lady, but the kid grabbed my arm. "That guy sounds like he's in a lot of trouble. Aren't you going to help him?"  
"Look, I'm trying. Let go of me -"  
The kid's grip didn't waver, and I sighed. "Fine. I'll go rescue the guy, okay?"  
The kid nodded and let go of my arm. I slowly made my way out of town, only to happen upon the scene right away.  
A man in a white lab coat was being chased by a snarling Poochyena. As I watched, the Poochyena chased the man up a tree.  
Suddenly, the guy spotted me. "Oh, I'm saved! Listen, can you grab my bag? In there's a bunch of Poke balls. Grab one and fight off this Pokemon!"  
"I -"  
The Poochyena turned, bored with its current target, and snarled at me. I felt the familiar panic grab me, and suddenly my feet were rooted to the ground.  
"Don't just stand there! Help me!"  
The Poochyena advanced, growling. Suddenly, it pounced at me and tackled me in the chest.  
I flew across the clearing and slammed into the ground. My head fuzzy, I looked up to see the Poochyena dashing towards me again. I groped the ground around me, trying to find something to brace myself against. My hand butted up against something, and I grabbed it. I felt fabric, and metal below it.  
His bag.  
I lifted it up. A bunch of red-and-white balls came tumbling out. I grabbed the first one that caught my eye and tossed it in the Poochyena's direction. An orange blur came out.  
"Get it away," I mumbled, the panic making it hard to move my lips.  
" _Got it_!"  
The blur attacked the Poochyena, scratching at it and sending it running away. The orange blur came over to me, followed by the man in the lab coat.  
"Are you okay?"  
"M-mostly," I said. "Is it gone?"  
"Yes, the Poochyena is gone." The man reached down and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. "Thanks for saving me. Let's get back to my lab." He returned the orange blur to its Poke ball and took me back into town, to his lab.  
"Like I said, thanks for saving me." He chuckled. "If you hadn't frozen up back there, I'd think you'll make a great Trainer! You're a natural, I'd say."  
"I – yeah. Thanks."  
"Anyway, I'm Professor Birch. As thanks for the rescue, I think I'm going to give you the Pokemon you used."  
"Are you serious?"  
"Completely." He smiled at me. "Like I said, if you can get over your fear of Pokemon, you could be a really great Trainer."  
"I... thanks, I guess."  
He smiled again. His sunny disposition irritated me a little, but I ignored it.  
He held out the Poke ball to me, and I took it without even thinking.  
"Well, go on. Let it out!"  
Mutely, I pressed the button on the Poke ball. The red light that came out resolved itself into a little orange chicken – Torchic. The Pokemon looked up at me and let out a chirp.  
"Hey, little guy," I murmured, crouching down to its level. There was nothing threatening about this Pokemon, which was reassuring. Still, I was a little nervous and shaky from my last encounter with a Pokemon.  
" _Hey! You're the human who let me out earlier_!"  
I looked up at the professor. He didn't seem to have understood the question. I glanced back down at the Torchic, who gave me a little wink.  
" _Only some humans can understand Pokemon, and most can only understand some Pokemon_."  
I nodded a little, kind of confused, and looked up at the professor again. "Umm... What should I do now?"  
"Give him a name, of course! Giving your Pokemon a nickname helps you get closer to them."  
"O...kay. How about... Jace?"  
The little chick thought about it for a second, then chirped happily. " _I like it_!"  
"Jace it is, then." Cautiously, I held my hand out to Jace. He hopped forward and nuzzled it. My first instinct was to pull my hand away, but I left it there. Jace seemed to get that I was uncomfortable, though, because he pulled away a few seconds later.  
"Great! You're friends already!" That sunniness was really starting to get on my nerves. "Now, why don't you go and check on Brendan? I want him to come back here for a bit, so can you go let him know?"  
I considered the rather rude boy I'd met earlier, and shook my head. "No way."  
"Oh, come on! You need a friend around here, you know. I think you and Brendan can become great friends!"  
"Sure. You know what? The only thing I want to do right now is head to Petalburg City. You can go get Brendan on your own."  
The professor sighed. "Look. If you're so serious about getting to Petalburg City... There've been reports of Pokemon killing newbie Trainers in the wild lately. It's not safe for you to head to Petalburg alone with one Pokemon. I don't have any Poke balls to give you, though, and I heard that the Oldale Poke Mart is sold out of them. Brendan's got a couple of Poke balls, though, so why don't you go and meet up with him and ask for some Poke balls? Then you can catch a few more Pokemon to help you get to Petalburg."  
I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure your kid is nice enough to just hand me some Poke balls with no compensation."  
Birch nodded earnestly. "Just tell him I sent you."  
I sighed. "You're not gonna let this go, are you? Fine, I'll go find Brendan."  
"Great! He should be cataloguing Pokemon on Route 103, which is just north of Oldale Town. Tell him to head back home."  
"Fine." I held out the Poke ball to Jace. "Let's head out."  
Jace shook his head at the ball and headed towards the lab door. " _Let's go_!"  
I shrugged and followed Jace out the door.


End file.
